The remarks of the newly appointed commander of the US Central Command (CENTCOM), Gen. James Mattis, came as he addressed senators during a meeting of the US Senate Committee on Armed Services. Describing Turkey as the only NATO member state that is fighting an active insurgency, Mattis said he believes there is a lot of room for Turkey and the US to continue to work together on common interests.
Relations between the two NATO allies have been badly shaken following a series of events in the past several months. Turkey recalled its ambassador to the US, Namık Tan, after the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs adopted a resolution on March 4 branding the events of 1915 as genocide, clearing the way for the full House vote, which ultimately did not take place. American and Turkish ties were further strained after Turkey voted “no” at a United Nations Security Council vote to impose sanctions on Iran and the US’s tepid response to Israel’s deadly raid on civilian vessels that left eight Turks and one American dead.
Saying that Turkey had been an ally of the US since the Korean War, the new commander underlined various areas in which Turkey had displayed its solidarity with the US.
“Turkey has been an ally of ours since the Korean War when they fought alongside us during that difficult period. They stood by us through the Cold War. They stood by us through sanctions against [former Iraqi President] Saddam [Hussein] at a time when it cost them economically severe consequences to their country,” Mattis said.
Turkey lamented that billions of dollars in Turkish-Iraqi trade volume dropped to zero after Turkey embraced US-led economic sanctions on Iraq before 2003 and that Turkey does not want the same scenario to happen in the Iranian nuclear dispute case. Turkey was a staunch opponent of sanctions on Iran, stressing that it has $10 billion in trade volume with this country and that diplomacy must be used when engaging with Iran.
